In conventional stream distribution systems, a transcoder device for performing conversion to a required format is fixedly provided in, for example, a server to perform stream distribution in a desired format (see Patent Document 1, for example).
For example, transcoder devices are provided separately from the server as independent devices to provide a different service, and individual format conversion is performed by a single transcoder device, thereby performing stream distribution in a desired format (see Patent Document 2, for example).
A transcoder management server which manages such transcoder devices, and, in response to a cooperation request sent from the transcoder devices, causes the plurality of transcoder devices to cooperate with each other is used to perform stream conversion with the plurality of transcoder devices in cooperation with each other, thereby performing stream distribution in a desired format (see Patent Document 3, for example).
Patent Document 1: JP 2002-232860 A
Patent Document 2: JP 2004-48190 A
Patent Document 3: JP 2002-374298 A